Property taxes: assessment: commercial and industrial property.

The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, "full cash value" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under "full cash value" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 of the 2015–16 Regular Session, if approved by the voters, commencing on the lien date for the 2018–19 fiscal year, would require the full cash value of commercial and industrial property to be the fair market value of that property as of the lien date, and would require the Legislature to enact legislation to phase in the reassessment of commercial and industrial property as so described in order to ensure a reasonable workload and implementation period for county assessors and taxpayers. This bill, pursuant to that constitutional requirement, for the 2018–19 fiscal year, would require only 50% of those properties that have not been reassessed at fair market value, as specified, to be assessed at fair market value, and by the 2019–20 fiscal year, would require all other properties that have not been brought to fair market value to be assessed at fair market value. The bill would require owners of property subject to reassessment to pay only a portion, as provided, of any increase in property tax due in the first and 2nd years after initial reassessment to fair market value. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but would become operative only if SCA 5 is approved by the voters.